The present invention relates to an automatic telephone answering apparatus and, more particularly, to an improvement in a tape drive mechanism therefor. A conventional telephone answering apparatus generally has an outgoing message tape (endless tape) and an incoming message tape (general take-up type cassette tape), and operates by alternately driving these tapes.
A conventional telephone answering apparatus of the aforesaid type uses two general cassette tape deck mechanisms and a common motor, so that the rotation of motor may not be transmitted to a take-up spindle of the incoming message tape during the driving period of the outgoing message tape. Examples of conventional telephone answering apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,591 wherein an idler interposed between the common motor and the take-up roller for the incoming message tape is displaced by a particular plunger coil; or as described in British Pat. No. 1,453,948 wherein two pulleys acting in opposite directions are mounted on the shaft of the common motor through a unidirectional rotary clutch, and a belt is mounted on these pulleys, the outgoing message tape drive flywheel, and the incoming message tape drive flywheel.
However, the former apparatus uses a particular plunger coil, so extra wiring is necessary. Therefore, the apparatus becomes complex in structure and expensive to manufacture. On the other hand, with the latter apparatus, the unidirectional rotary clutch is easy to break. Therefore, the operation of the apparatus is less reliable and the apparatus requires a mechanism for reversing the direction of rotation of the motor.